“Ol’ Red” 1979 Wheel Horse C-81

I picked up this nice tow hook for Ol' Red at a Harbor Freight in Georgia for $6.39 with a coupon. I'm going to bolt it to the drawbar that came with the tractor when I bought it at the scrapyard.

Nice, I don't believe I've seen that drawbar, got any pictures?

@Double W Cross Ranch oh yeah, I'm jacking it up by the drawbar in this picture. What a trip down memory lane this picture is.

Ah, that's pretty sweet! Yeah, this build has come a long way!

I installed a bushing in the drawbar and drilled a second hole to mount up the tow hook. It looks a lot more off road than the trailer ball which I haven't used since I locked the rear end. I might paint it red soon but it's not super critical.

Good thinking on the bushing. That tow hook does look very badass!

He'll need it to pull me out!

Thanks to @Double W Cross Ranch with helping me research some parts.  I picked up a tethered kill switch that will work with a 12V ignition and a spare lanyard at my local AutoZone for $30.  I also ordered a couple of hood latches like the kind used on my C-125 that I plan to use on Ol' Red for $30.

I took some time to wrench on Ol' Red today and it's ready to go to Haspin!
I cringed at drilling into my dash and the forstner bit did wander but the hole came out in a great place for the tethered kill switch.  All I had to do was move the igntion wire to it and run a jumper wire over the key switch.  An added bonus of this is that I can pull the tether to kill power to the coil but still can have the key on to power accessories like the lights and winch.


I bolted the rear rack back on:


I replaced this john deere wide flanged idler on a customer's mower and thought it would be perfect to try on Ol' Red. So right now I've got my belt guard and floorboard off to start the engineering process to see if this one will fit and how it will effect the belt system.  If it doesn't work out, I don't have a problem running the idler I currently have.

Nice balance with the key switch on that tether kill!  Ol' Red is looking good!  I have tether kill on my Kal, but not my Li'l Red.  I will look into that after Haspin.

Hope U will make it!

Looking nice! Your welcome for the help, 'twas no trouble at all.

looking good bud

As some of you may have saw in one of Redzz02's videos I did roll the tractor onto myself.  It was totally operator error and the tractor is fine.  Pretty cool view of the bottom side of Ol' Red lol.

I was running Redzz02's vampires.  They really hooked well and the smaller diameter made a good positive difference in gearing.  So I've bought a set of 24X11-10 Swamp Witches that need to go on before the next group ride.  I'll need to source some used aluminum 10" atv rims and have them modified.

I would also like to work on my clutch not releasing as easy as I'd like it to, a better hood/dash connection, and weld up the locker.

You're still alive! Lol

Glad your nuts......er.... Ol'Red is ok. Nice tires. Maybe keep an eye out for 5 lug 4.5 circle trailer wheels too! But atv would prob be cheaper.

Hey you're joining the Swamp Witch crew!! Haha.

Good to see an update again Carl!

Are you still just using the stock holes for the clutch pivot rod? Back in the day I found a piece of steel plumbing pipe, 1/2 or maybe 3/8 and drilled it out same size as the clutch pivot rod and then drilled out the frame to fit the pipe, and welded it in. Put a grease zerk on it too, I think I covered it in my build thread. Pretty easy and makes a huge difference. That being said the zerk broke off (long story) and it’s not been greased for years and needs replaced now. But it did work great for a long time till lack of maintaince killed it

@Creepycrawler That's a pretty solid idea. I think my main problem is I removed part of the factory belt cover that acts like a guide (kinda like the one you have) that makes the belt "loop" around the engine pulley to disengage it when the clutch it pushed in. I this that's the main area I'm having a problem with.

Nice rig! Wheel horses just are a pain when it comes to belts and pulleys. Took me forever to figure out mine....probably because I didnt have any original pulleys. But on mine what we did was fire up the engine and with me holding down the clutch dad took some screwdrivers and just pulled up and pushed down on the belt either on the top side of the engine pulley or on the bottom side of the the engine pulley. Till it decides the stop the belt and disengage. Then we took some angle brackets and bolted them using the bolt holes in the engine block and put them about an 1/8th of an inch or so off the the belt when clutch is engaged. I can show pictures of mine if needed but the original style belt stop didnt work at all on mine.

@BlakeGroce That is amazing advice and something I can do by myself with the help of a ratchet strap.

Anything to help someone out! I was searching the internet for a month trying to figure out how to get mine to work. Heres a picture of the brackets that we made. I had to have 2 but you might not. It works suprising well and is really responsive once you get them adjusted right.

@Crazy_Carl seen the video, glad your ok. How did you like running the wider tires. It was the best thing I did on mine. Alot more stable

@Buck I loved running the wider tires.  Speaking of which I just mounted up my new 24x11-10 Swamp Witches on a set of ebay 10" kubota rims that bolted right up.  I might bring the hubs in a little but I'm in love with this tractor all over again.  I love the big rear end.

Oh yeah... look at that thick posterior..

Dang Carl,
Ol Red Is looking good.